Virginia League of Social Services Executives Meeting of the Membership

November 5th, 2015Double Tree Crystal City

Arlington, Virginia

Board Members Present (24): Executive Committee Present ( 6 ): Cathy Pemberton (President), Andy Crawford (1st Vice President), Sherry Flanagan (3rd Vice President), Diane Kuknyo (4th Vice President), Larry Lindsey (Treasurer) and John Holtkamp (Secretary).League District Representatives Present ( 18 ): Trevor Hensley (1), Rex Tester (2), Randy Blevins (3), Sherry Nipper-Williams (4), Carla Taylor (7), Nanette Bowler (8), Valerie Ward (9), Janice Allen (10), Ginny Huntington (11), Debbie Burkett (13), Karen Blackwell (14), Cindee Steinhauser (15), Michael Muse (16), Jackie Clayton, (17),Anne Mitchell (18), Ray Spicer (19), Rusty Jordan (20) and Wanda Rogers (21 & 22).Affiliate Organization President’s Present ( 1 ): Bonnie M. Peery (POSSESS)

Board Members Absent (6):Executive Committee Absent ( 1 ): Shel Bolyard-Douglas (2nd Vice President).League District Representatives Absent ( 3 ): Joyce Earl (5), Meredith Downey (6), and John Moody (12). Affiliate Organization President’s Absent ( 2 ): Carolyn Harlow (BPRO) and Tonya Cunningham (VASWP).

Quorum for a Board of Directors Meeting: This requirement was met (A third of the League members of the Board of Directors shall constitute a quorum - Bylaws - Article VI, Section 7). The requirement was 10 for this meeting. There were 24 present (Affiliates are not counted for purposes of quorum; Bylaws - Article VI, Section 1).

Additional League Members Present (60): Phyllis Savides (Albemarle), Suzanne Adcock (Alleghany/Covington), Martha Pullen (Amelia), Jeanne Booth (Arlington), Kimberly Brintle (Bland), Braxton Bragg (Buckingham), Lisa Linthicum and Amy Rice (Campbell), B. Michael Jennings (Carroll), Sari C. Goff (Charlotte), Michelle Cowling (Chesapeake), Kiva Rogers (Chesterfield/Colonial Heights), Lisa Peacock and Sarah Berry (Culpeper), Rose Mastracco (Dinwiddie), Barbara Antley and Juani Diaz (Fairfax), Janis Selbo (Fauquier), Christopher Alan Hogge (Franklin City), Christen Gallik and Elizabeth Girone (Fredericksburg), Kimberly Jefferson (Goochland), Anthony G. Isom (Grayson), Sylvia Lovelace (Halifax), Don Driver and Celeste Williams (Harrisonburg/Rockingham), Tanya Verlik and Joni Temple (Henry/Martinsville), Pam Barton (Isle of Wight), Diana Hutchins (James City), Edna Davenport (Lancaster), Dorothy Newcomb (Lunenburg), Tamara Rosser (Lynchburg), Valerie Ward (Madison), JoAnn Wilson-Harfst (Mathews), Rebecca Morgan (Middlesex), Angela Rose (Nelson), Venerria L. Thomas (Newport News), Stephen K. Hawks and Denise Gallop (Norfolk), Richard Sterrett (Northampton), Jennifer Phillips (Orange), Roma Morris (Prince Edward), Courtney Tierney and Ian Sansoni (Prince William), Vanesa Livingstone (Richmond County), Jenny Alexander (Roanoke City), Patience O’Brien

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(Roanoke), Michelle Stivers (Southampton), Gail Crooks and Ahuna Johnson (Spotsylvania), Nicole Kirven (Stafford), Chequila Fields (Sussex), Gailyn Thomas (Virginia Beach), Helen Reavis (Warren), Helen Wilkins-Ball (Westmoreland), Peter Walentisch (Williamsburg), Susann Light (Wise), Kimberly Irvine and Rick Verrilla (York/Poquoson).

Quorum for a Meeting of the Membership: This requirement was met (A quorum for membership meetings shall be attained when a third of the member agencies have registered for a membership meeting - Bylaws - Article IX, Section 3). The requirement was 40 for this meeting. There were 81 Member Agencies registered and represented

Guests (1): James Pickral (Lobbyist)

Call to Order: President Cathy Pemberton as Chair called the VLSSE Membership Meeting to order at 1:05 PM on Thursday, November 5th.

Welcome: The Chair welcomed members of the League and Guest to the Membership Meeting. Attendees were reminded to sign in. Several new Members were introduced.

Minutes: The minutes of the prior Board Meeting (July 8th) had previously been sent to the Membership for review. Clarification items remain from the Minutes of Board Meeting of October 7th. Everyone should have received a copy. The outstanding issue is additional charges being assigned to the Bylaws Committee. These are to look at the current names for committees (e.g. Comprehensive Services Committee is no longer accurate) and the need for an audit committee

Treasurer’s Report: Treasurer’s Report for FY 2016 (First Quarter - July, 2015 through September, 2015) had previously been posted on the League Website for Review. The League realized Revenues in the amount of $27,560.00 thus far in FY 2016. Revenues were

primarily in Affiliate Dues (6,000.00). Conferences brought in $15,610.00. The League expended a total of $29,931.88 thus far in FY 2016. Expenses were primarily for the

Lobbyist ($10,200.00), The Board Quarterly Meeting ($5,549.65) and American Public Human Services Association (APHSA) membership ($5,000.00)

Expenses were in excess of Revenues in the amount of $2,371.88. The League’s Checking Account balance is $16,805.11` The League’s Money Market Account balance is $60,846.92.

A motion to Accept the League Treasurer’s Report as presented was made by Ray Spicer, seconded by Debbie Burkett and passed unanimously.

President’s Report: President Cathy Pemberton addressed the Membership: Crisis Management: Considerations with the Media (Tucker Martin): The President noted there had

been various issues with different localities and also at the state level where unfavorable information came out. She had spoken with our Legislative Lobbyist (James Pickral who suggested a speaker with considerable experience with such circumstances. James introduced Tucker Martin who is a Political Consultant who has previously worked on the Virginia Governor’s staff and in other roles dealing with the media. Mr. Tucker introduced himself and noted that his wife is a Social Worker in Chesterfield, so he has some, limited understanding of what we do. He said his topic was

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‘Crisis Communication’. These are the situations where an event has occurred or the media is tracking a story which reflects poorly on the Agency. There are essentially four choices in such a setting: Deny, Explain, Admit or Respond. His recommendation is to ‘Eat the Bug’. Get the story out, as fully and completely as possible ‘Eat the whole Bug at once’. Get the information out that you can get out. The Press is going to find out. Admit if you were wrong, Be transparent Never Lie! Create a Press Release, quickly, while the story is ‘hot’. Consider writing an Op ED (750 words which will run ‘Opposite the Editorial’ page in the local Newspaper). Always, always have relationships built with the local media before a crisis occurs.

Conversation with DMAS (Linda Nabio): Ms. Nabio is the Chief Deputy for Cindy Jones. She will be speaking with us as Cindy was called away with a Family Emergency. She thanks VLSSE for the invitation to meet and also for the partnership we have shared with Medicaid. She sees us as being in the middle of an evolution of a system for determining Medicaid Eligibility. None of us know what it will look like in five years. The process so far has been difficult and she commends LDSS Agencies reducing ‘pending’ applications and the progress with Overdue Renewals. ‘Things appear to be heading in the right direction!’. She shared that Federal Case Management System people are watching our progress. We have surmounted many hurdles, but still more to overcome. The future will hold expectations for greater accountability with a single state agency responsible for all of Medicaid = DMAS. They have received the most recent report with the 17 recommendations and are reviewing them. It is important to keep in mind that what is in VaCMS is the ‘truth’ and MMIS must agree with what is in VaCMS. Initially the ‘match’ rate was 50%, but now is at 94% to 96%. The system still allows workers to directly enter people into MMIS through the ‘bridge’ or ‘backdoor’. Fully 25% of cases come in this way. However this needs to change with cases coming in ‘the right way’. MMIS is simply a list and delivery of benefits system. VaCMS is an Eligibility Determination System.

League District Representatives: League Representatives are selected by the respective League District members every two years. The ‘odd’ numbered Representatives (1, 3, 5, etc.) were up for election re-election this year. It is important for District Representatives to know and remember:

o They are expected to hold at least quarterly District meetings.o They play a vital role in communication within the League, sharing League information out

to the Membership and bringing Membership concerns to the League.o They constitute a significant majority of the Leagues’ Board of Directors (21 of 31 positions).

Their attendance at League Board and Membership functions is crucial.

League District Representative Reports: 1. Trevor Hensley – Present, Nothing to report.2. Rex Tester – Present, No Report. Plan to get together in the near future.3. Randy Blevins – Present, They are meeting and he provided an update.4. Sherry Nipper-Williams – Present, They are meeting and she provided an update.5. Joyce Earl – Not Present. No activity.6. Meredith Downey – Not Present. No Report

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7. Carla Taylor – Present. Various issues are being discussed, including Drug Court. Significant concerns exist with issues of Substance Abuse and effects upon families and children.

8. Nanette Bowler – Present. No meetings and no report9. Valerie Ward – They are meeting. Discussions have involved Trauma Informed interventions and

services and other service models.10. Janice Allen – Present. They have not had a meeting. They plan to have a meeting in the near

future.11. Ginny Huntington – Present. Much activity. Meetings in July and in September. Issues of

Parental placement of children and educational costs, Private Agencies placing children in unlicensed homes, etc. They are working with the ‘Bridges’ program (Poverty awareness).

12. John Moody - Not Present. Not Met.13. Debbie Burkett – Present. They have not met since the last Board Meeting (10/7/15) when they

discussed issues including Staff Turnover (North Carolina pays more than Virginia which is a problem for border localities) and CSA. Commissioner Schultze visited their locality and saw first-hand the latency issues in VaCMS. This resulted in the state finding apparent ‘hang ups’ in their local systems.

14. Karen Blackwell – Present. They have not met since the last Board Meeting (10/7). They meet every month for breakfast. It was described as a wonderful opportunity to share and develop strategies to address shared issues.

15. Cindee Steinhauser – Present. They are meeting regularly. Marsha Sharpe has retired and will be missed.

16. Michael Muse – Present, but out of the room. 17. Jackie Clayton – Present, but out of the room. They meet routinely and have discussed Prisoner

Re-Entry, Foster Parents and Foster Care. 18. Anne Mitchell – Present. Meeting regularly19. Ray Spicer – Present. Meeting regularly. Discuss issues of Medicaid, HR, Training (including

Leadership Training), Child Welfare Stipend, etc. Last meeting was a lunch saying ‘good-bye’ to Marsha Sharpe who has been an ‘honorary member of Planning District 19.

20. Rusty Jordan – Present. Meetings occur quarterly and are scheduled.21. (and 22) Wanda Rogers – Present. They meet routinely. Much appreciation to the work Richard

Sterrett did in the District.

Memorial Service for Chris Spanos: This was attended by several retired LDSS Directors. There is a proposal to invite them to return for the Spring Conference. They represent a vast reserve of historical memory. The consensus was this would be appreciated and appropriate.

Elections and Nominations Committee: Elections shall be held in May, 2016 for the Officers of the Club (President, Vice Presidents 1, 2, 3 and 4, Secretary and Treasurer). A Nominating Committee of five delegates and five matching alternates needs to be selected. There is one delegate and one Alternate for each of the five Regions of the state. The Nominating Committee then develops a slate of candidates for the various positions (outlined above). This was completed at this meeting.

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Vice Presidents’ Reports: First VP (Andy Crawford) - Committees and League Planning District Representatives:

Committee Reports will follow the Vice President reports.

Second VP (Shel Bolyard-Douglas) – Affiliates: Shel was not able to attendAffiliate Reports stand as presented and published on the League website (BPRO for October, 2015 and POSSESS for November, 2015). One of the Affiliate Representatives was present, Bonnie M. Peery (POSSESS). She reported the President of POSSESS (Jewell Wolfe) was not able to attend. She would like to encourage Directors to encourage their staff to run for office within POSSESS, to submit their names by January 1st. Additionally Central Region has no officers. Several POSSESS members in the Central Region have moved their membership to the Eastern Region. They are working to get Central Region ‘up’ again.

BPRO: Report stands as presented for the October meeting of VLSSE Board. VASWP (Tonya Cunningham): No Report POSSESS : POSSESS had an excellent turnout for the 2015 Fall Conference with BPRO and

VASWP, which was held at the Norfolk Sheraton Waterside in Norfolk, Virginia from September 30th through October 2nd. They had a total of 70 in attendance; six of which were new members and six were non-members. During our Business Meeting on September 30th, the revisions of the By-Laws were voted on and approved. There was also a special election prior to conference for 1st Vice President with four interested individuals on the ballot. It was not discovered until the very end that three were not eligible to seek this position due to our By-Laws. The Board will be looking at revamping our election process with the Nominating Committee within the next several months to prepare for our 2016 spring elections. The POSSESS Board of Directors will also be looking at ways to help Central become a Region within POSSESS once again. One thing that will occur is a meeting with two of the previous Board members from Central and it is hoped that this meeting can take place by the first of the year. POSSESS will be holding elections for officers for the Regions and State in the spring of 2016 and those elected will take office effective on July 1, 2016. POSSESS is willing to assist the League in any way and we continue to appreciate any support given to us by the League.

Third VP (Sherry Flanagan): Upcoming League Meetings/Conferences: Sherry was outside in the Hall when her report was called. It was agreed this was a wonderful and well organized. Everyone was encouraged to Thank Sherry as they saw her. An update: VLSSE Board Meeting January 26 th – 28 th – Omni Hotel and Resorts Richmond. Make reservations

at 1-800-843-6664. (Please note that we have extended this meeting a day to accommodate visiting our delegates on the hill)

VLSSE Board Meeting April 6 th and 7 th - The Homestead – 7696 Sam Snead Highway, Hot Springs, VA 24445. Make reservations at 1-800-838-1766.

VLSSE Membership Meeting (Spring Conference) May 4 th – May 6 th . Embassy Suites by Hilton, 1700 Coliseum Drive, Hampton VA 23966. Reservations at 1-757-827-8200. Use code PEC when securing your room.

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Fourth VP (Diane Kuknyo) – New Directors: There are a total of 27 new LDSS Directors since June 1st, 2014 (Some are ‘Acting’, Some have moved from one locality to another). She has been in contact with all of them and met many of them at Regional Directors meetings, VLSSE Board meetings, and VLSSE conferences. Seven new Directors are at the Conference right now! (Welcome!).

1) Pulaski (Western) Guy Smith 06/01/2014

2) Scott County (Western) Luanne McMurray 06/09/2014

3) Norton City (Western) Christine Blair 07/01/2014

4) Dinwiddie (Eastern) Rose Mastracco 07/07/2014

5) Richmond County (Central) Vanesa Livingston 07/14/2014

6) New Kent (Central) Jon Martz 07/14/2014

7) Nelson County (Piedmont) Angela Rose 07/14/2014

8) Fluvanna (Central) Kimberly Mabe 07/28/2014

9) Russell County (Western) Patrick Brunty 08/01/2014

10) Nottoway (Central) Christopher Spain 08/01/2014

11) Highland County (Piedmont) Sarah Rexrode 08/19/2014

12) Lee County (Western) Trevor Hensley 08/25/2014

13) Floyd County (Western) Tracie Brewster 08/25/2014

14) Newport News (Eastern) Venerria Lucas Thomas 09/16/2014

15) Prince William County (Northern)) Courtney Tierney 09/29/2014

16) Amherst County (Piedmont) Susan Mays 11/06/2014

17) Caroline County (Central) Wendy Staples Sneed 12/08/2014

18) Smyth County (Western) Christopher Austin 01/05/2015

19) Campbell County (Piedmont) Lisa Linthicum 02/01/2015

20) Manassas Park (Northern) Randi Knights 04/21/2015

21) Wise County (Western) Susann Light 05/01.2015

22) Richmond City (Central) Shunda Giles 05/04/2015

23) Buchanan County (Western) Ruth Horn 05/22/2015

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24) Albemarle County (Piedmont) Phyllis Savides 07/20/201525) 26) Orange County (Northern) ElElizabeth Middleton 08/01/201527) 28) Arlington County – Acting (Northern) Tabitha Kelly 08/15/201529) 30) Shenandoah Valley (Piedmont) Anita Harris 08/19/2015

Diane reported she has been encouraging new Directors to become active with the League, serve upon Committees, etc. as this is an excellent way to get acclimated to the job, to better understand issues, to get consultation and receive support.

Diane reminded everyone that League membership is open to Directors, Assistant Directors and those who serve in a Director’s role. She reported that she needs information on Assistant Directors, when they arrive and when they leave. Please email her with this information.

Committee Reports: Andy updated the membership on discussions in regard to the ‘Federal ad hoc’ committee. There is a recommendation coming from the Executive Committee and the Board of Directors that this Committee be made into a ‘standing’ Committee. From the July 8 th meeting of the Board of Directors:

The Executive Committee recommended to the Board of Directors that the League allow the Federal ad hoc Committee to expire, that it be replaced with a ‘Federal’ Committee charged to monitor and work with developments at the Federal and National level which affect the League and that this committee additionally serves as the League’s liaison with APHSA. Board members suggested that coordination with the League’s Legislative Committee be added to the charges of the ‘Federal’ Committee.

A motion for League to allow the Federal ad hoc Committee to expire, that it be replaced with a ‘Federal’ Committee charged to monitor and work with developments at the Federal and National level which affect the League, that this Committee serve as the League’s liaison with APHSA and that the Committee additionally be charged with coordinating its activities with those of the League’s Legislative Committee was made by Jon Martz, seconded by Debbie Burkett and carried unanimously.

A vote was called and carried in favor (83) of the Board’s action of July, 2015. There were two votes in opposition to the measure.

Committee Reports: The League has fourteen ‘standing’ committees. The Committee Chairs or their representatives presented their reports. Most of these reports had been submitted and posted on the League Website. First Vice president Andy Crawford reports he has encouraged the Chairpersons of our Affiliate Organizations (BPRO, VASWP and POSSESS) to join the respective League Committees.

Administrative - (Chair Don Driver). Committee Report stands as submitted. The Administration Committee continues to meet monthly. Significant issues include:• Family Services Specialist funds: The Committee has discussed, in cooperation with several

VLSSE Content Committees (Child Welfare, Adult Services, Ongoing Services and Family Preservation). It is planned that any additional funds for staffing will come into ‘General Administration’ will permit us to use the funds as we see fit. Hope for 60 to 80 additional positions. They have looked at the increased number of Child Protective Services cases. Their ‘Talking Point’ revolves about “What does it take to keep families together?”. There is difficulty counting cases from locality to locality due to differences in case definition and distribution.

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Adult Services - (Chair Barbara Antley): Barbara reported the Committee Report stands as submitted. She especially highlighted several items: State was very complimentary on the ‘Pass Through’ screening process and the use of new tools. The committee very much believes it is necessary to make banks and financial institutions

mandated reporters of Adult Abuse, especially Exploitation. They have written a Concept paper and sent it to the Legislative Committee.

Home Care providers must comply with new labor law that requires 1. Minimum Wage, 2. Overtime and 3. Transportation time pay.

There is no ‘state’ tool for Structured Decision Making. Several localities are experimenting with their own tools.

Highlights from that report include: e-PAS It appears that DMAS is going back to the drawing board in regard to children’s

screenings, and there is no contract vendor at this time. Emergency regulations will be released soon and will be in effect for one year. There is consideration as to having the Health Departments conduct the children’s screenings. It is not known if this would involve only Health Department nurses. Hospitals have a grace period until the end of November as to use of the e-PAS system. There will be an interface between e-PAS and the hospitals’ data system. DMAS has decided that e-PAS is only for pre-admission screenings, and ALF screenings should not be entered in it.

PeerPlace DARS released a broadcast on October 19th that provides an update to the replacement of ASAPS with PeerPlace. DARS was awarded a grant from the federal Administration on Community Living (ACL) to be used for programming for the APS components. DARS was awarded another grant to continue implementation of No Wrong Door. Additional funds are needed from the state to replace ASAPS with PeerPlace and fully implement during 2018.It is expected that use of e-PAS will continue as there is not funding for Peer Place licenses for the Health Department.

Legislative Position, Mandating Reporting by Financial Institutions, A position paper has been drafted and sent to the chair of the Legislative Committee.

Budget, APS positions, The League is advocating for CPS positions, but if new revenue is approved, local agencies could decide to use it for APS positions.

The Virginia Elder Rights Coalition has determined its legislative priorities: (1) increase funding for the Long Term Care Ombudsman program by $2 million to meet a standard of one ombudsman for every 2,000 nursing home or assisted living beds; and (2) increase the Auxiliary Grant rate for assisted living and adult foster care and make it 100% state funded.

The Elder Rights Coalition is also endorsing the following positions: (1) increase funding by $400,000 for the Lifespan Respite Voucher program; (2) for the Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation to offer a “visitable” option to prospective customers for new single family homes as an alternative to conventional design; (3) Medicaid expansion to close the health care coverage gap.

Department of Labor Home Care Rule impacts local agency approved providers as well as aides working for home care agencies. Home care workers must be paid minimum wage and earn over time after 40 hours. They must be compensated at the hourly rate for time spent driving

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between clients, and that time is included in the weekly total of hours. DARS will be issuing guidance after it is reviewed by the Attorney General’s Office. This rule is in effect, but there is a grace period, which is believed to be until the end of the calendar year. Last year, there were bills introduced in the General Assembly to restrict EDCD Waiver hours due to budget concerns about the impact of the rule. States across the country are grappling with the implications of this rule.

APS Structured Decision Making – there is not a state tool, and some local agencies have been experimenting with various iterations of tools. DARS is supportive of structured decision making, but does not have the resources to develop or implement a tool. The National Council on Crime and Delinquency developed tools that were implemented by the state of New Hampshire. Norfolk has implemented use of the tool. Fairfax has implemented a version of the risk assessment tool that was developed in partnership with William and Mary’s Center for Excellence in Aging and Lifelong Health. Albemarle County DSS is beginning a partnership with The National Council on Crime and Delinquency to use the tools and is inviting other agencies to join them in training.

Financial Decision Making – Norfolk staff attended a National APS Conference workshop given by Peter Lichtenberg of Wayne State University. Dr. Lichtenberg developed a new tool for assessing financial decision making abilities in older adults. Norfolk is offering training on December 16th by Dr. Lichtenberg on use of the tool. He is looking for social workers to use the tool and send him copies of the completed tools for study purposes.

Awards – (Chair Kimberly Brintle): Committee Report stands as written. The Awards committee is currently comprised of Chair Kimberly Brintle (Bland), Vice Chair Michelle Stivers (Southampton), and Jason Miller (Bath). The Awards Committee is responsible for ensuring gifts are provided to retiring directors and for accepting, reviewing, choosing, and coordinating the presentation of awards in the following categories: The Creativity and Effectiveness Award League Member Distinguished Service Award Outstanding Group or Individual Public Service Award The President’s Award The Recipient Award The Spirit of Collaboration Award It has been a while since an award was presented and we need to reinstate this tradition. The Committee encourages VLSSE members to begin thinking about nominees. Applications will be accepted until March 1, 2016 and we plan to present the awards at the May conference. Retirement gifts provided since July 2015 meeting: Marsha Sharpe (Chesterfield) Richard Sterrett (Northampton)Updated nomination forms as well as a link to the retirement gift selection form have been submitted to the webmaster for addition to the Awards Committee page on the VLSSE website.

Bylaws – (Chair Martha Pullen): Martha Pullen led a discussion on three proposed changes in the Bylaws and Manual of Policies and procedures. At the Board of Directors meetings on July 8 th and on October

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7th, the Board unanimously recommended the membership approve the following proposed amendments to the Bylaws and changes to the Policies and Procedures Manual. These amendments were presented and address three separate sets of issues.

First Issue: A checks and balances issue with the 3rd Vice-President being designated as a Fiscal signatory in the Bylaws. The 3rd Vice-President as Chair of the Program Committee incurs expenses for the League arranging League meetings and conferences. This could result in the 3 rd Vice President signing checks for expenses that he/she incurred.

Recommendation: Amend Article XII Finances and Budget, Section 2 by replacing the words “third” with the word “fourth”.

ARTICLE XIIFINANCES AND BUDGET

Section 2. There shall be three signatories on the League’s checking account--the treasurer, the second vice-president and the thirdfourth vice-president--so that in the absence or incapacity of the treasurer or a vacancy in the office of treasurer, the president may designate the second or third vice-president to issue checks.

The Membership voted unanimously to accept and adopt the proposed changes outlined under ‘First Issue’.

Second Issue: A problem for at least one LDSS is not being able to pay annual dues by July 1 because of their locality’s prohibition on the payment of dues out of one fiscal year for membership which is effective in a subsequent fiscal year.

Recommendation: Amend Article III Membership, Section 3, changing the words “no later than” to “by”; and in the first sentence of Section 4 add the word “immediately” between the words “shall” and “forfeit” to correct for ambiguity, change “July” to “August”.

ARTICLE IIIMEMBERSHIP

Section 3. Annual dues shall cover the period from July 1 through June 30, be set by the membership and be due and payable in advance no later thanby June 30 of each year. The treasurer shall notify each local department, annually and in writing, of the assessed dues.

Section 4. Member agencies whose annual dues are not paid in full by JulyAugust 1 shall immediately forfeit all rights and privileges of membership until such time as the current annual dues are paid in full. The treasurer shall notify a local department in writing when its membership lapses.

MANUAL OF POLICIES AND PROCEDURESA. A companion change to the Manual of Policies & Procedures in Chapter 2 – Membership to change

“July” to “August”.

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Chapter 2. MembershipThe Treasurer will compile an initial membership roster no later than JulyAugust 1 of each year from those individuals identified as members on the annual dues remittance form and will submit a copy of the initial roster to the fourth Vice-President. The fourth Vice-President is responsible for updating the membership roster during the year and will ensure that the Secretary has a roster that is reviewed and updated immediately prior to meetings of the membership, Board of Directors and Executive Committee.

There was discussion on the language. The Membership voted unanimously to accept and adopt the proposed changes outlined under ‘First Issue’.

Third Issue: The difficulties and at times inability of the League’s Board of Directors to respond to the Legislature or to pending legislation in a timely manner.

Recommendation: Amend Article V Duties of Officers, Section 2 by inserting a sentence after the second sentence causing Article V Duties of Officers, Section 2 to read:

ARTICLE VDUTIES OF OFFICERS

Section 2. The president shall preside at meetings of the membership, the Board of Directors and the Executive Committee and shall serve ex officio as a member of all committees except the nominating committee. The president shall be the official spokesperson for the League and may designate other members to assist him with this responsibility. When the president determines that a legislative position is required of the League within a time frame that precludes holding an Executive Committee meeting, the president may provide a legislative position on behalf of the League, which will not be in conflict with any positions taken by the Executive Committee, Board or membership. The president may approve expenditure requests which do not exceed line item appropriations in the adopted budget. Subject to the approval of the Board of Directors of any fees required, the president may appoint a parliamentarian who shall act as consultant and advisor to the president and other officers, committees and members on matters of parliamentary procedure. If a member, the parliamentarian shall not hold any elected office.

MANUAL OF POLICIES AND PROCEDURESA. As a companion standing rule, the Committee recommends in the Manual of Policies & Procedures

the insertion of a new Chapter 4 to read “President” followed by this text:

Chapter 4. PresidentAny legislative positions authorized by the President under Article V, Section 2 of the Bylaws must be reported immediately to the Executive Committee and the Legislative Committee Chair and to the Board and membership at their next

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meetings. Nothing in this Chapter precludes earlier communication of the President’s actions to the Board, membership or any other stakeholder.

Renumber the remaining Chapters beginning with the former Chapter 4.

There was considerable and varied discussion as to terms and conditions; however no amendments were put forward. The Membership voted unanimously to accept and adopt the proposed changes outlined under ‘First Issue’.

Child Care – (Co-Chairs Pam Barton and Rose Mastracco): Committee Report stands as written. Co-Chair Barton reported on the following: Please be sure you understand that remaining Child Care budget for your agency shown

in VaCMS system and on reports is not accurate. Individual localities authorized amounts remain what you were given by VDSS Budget and Finance Office in May 2015 for FY2016. The VaCMS system was set to allow localities to exceed this by approximately 40% with the knowledge that attrition would likely bring the amounts down to the actual initial budgets. UNLESS you have unencumbered dollars from your original budget amount, you should not open additional cases. If at the end of the year, you have expended more than the ACTUAL allocation, you may be required to pay the overage out of local only dollars.

Child Welfare – (Chair Rebecca Morgan): Committee Report stands as previously submitted. Rebecca Morgan presented. The committee met on August 7 and September 4. Details are contained in the Minutes from the October 7th 2015 meeting of the VLSSE Board of Directors

Comprehensive Services Act (CSA) – (Chair Brad Burdette): Committee Report stands as submitted. Details are contained in the Minutes from the October 7th 2015 meeting of the VLSSE Board of Directors. Brad commented upon several issues: SEC will remain a non-Supervisory Council and work on developing clearer guidelines. The local match requirement on non-CSA placements (Educational) needs to be eliminated with

100% payment by the state. There will be compromises. Perhaps mandate local match if the children going into placement (even educational placements) actually come through CSA.

There was much discussion on various proposals on matches for Medicaid, Education plus non-Medicaid covered residential costs (ex. Individual counseling)

Employment Committee - (Meredith Downey and Sue Moffett are Co-Chairs): The committee met on August 14 and September 11, 2015. Their Charges are: 1. Work in cooperation with VDSS on administrative and management issues related to TANF,

VIEW and SNAPET Programs. Topics include program priorities, policies, funding, data collection, data reporting and program performance. The group is researching best practices, new initiatives, and alternative methods of service delivery related to TANF and Employment Services in Virginia and nationally. The group is reviewing the new state plan along with best practice benchmarks to identify opportunities for changes that will improve program outcomes and move more families from poverty to self-sufficiency. The group is monitoring the effects of

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the reauthorized federal Workforce Opportunity and Investment Act and the Governor’s Executive Order #23 regarding workforce development.

2. Work with VDSS on identifying personnel and training needs and resources for Employment Services Programs. Monitoring.

3. Monitor and make recommendations on proposed legislation for the TANF, VIEW and SNAPET programs. Monitoring.

4. Monitor and explore coordination opportunities involving Workforce Development and Workforce Investment Activities. Work with VADSS staff to plan for implementation of reauthorized Workforce Opportunity and Investment Act and the multi-year SNAP-ET grant. Identify opportunities to link employment service programs with local economic development efforts. Continue to identify local initiatives coordinating VIEW/SNAP ET program/funding with community workforce development opportunities.

Federal Committee – (Chair Nanette Bowler): This committee is in formation with no report.

Financial Services – (Cindee Steinhauser): Committee Report stands as submitted. Chair Steinhauser reported on the following: The State revised VaCMS document was received on 10/06/15 and sent to the Financial Services

Committee. Work sessions will be scheduled at the 11/20/15 meeting. Deborah Vaughn, EDSP Business Program Director, gave an update of the Conversion for

ABD/LTC and Non-MAGI Medicaid to the VaCMS system. Long Term Care (LTC) Mock run is slated for 10/31/15 with another mock run slated for

11/21/15. \ The plan was to convert LTC first with a 12/12/15 scheduled date. That has been pushed back to

January. There is no COLA increase for SSA this year. Broadcast 9401 ABAWD [Able Bodied Adults without Dependents] was released 10/13/15.

Households with an ABAWD will be limited to 4 months. As of 10/15/15 all applications will be limited to 4 months. If a worker tries to enter a longer certification period, an error will be given.

A request for input regarding the CPU has been requested twice with the latest request 10/1/15. Minimal input has been received. Please ensure your agency sends responses at ste25@henrico.us. This document will be crafted and sent to the Financial Services Committee to begin work on the issues brought forth in October. A goal date for completion will be established at the November meeting.

The group congratulated Toni Washington on her promotion to Assistant Director for Benefit Programs. Toni gave an overview of her expectations for her new role and detailed her prior work experiences. Her primary responsibilities at this time will be Training and Fraud and all other duties as assigned. Her team consists of Marty Mawyer, Susan Lloyd, Maryellen O’Hara, Denise Short and staff.

Legislative – (Chair Suzanne Adcock): No Committee Report. The committee will begin meeting in late November, early December. It is in a ‘holding pattern’ right now. It will be important to ‘pick

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our battles’ wisely and not exhaust limited political capital and time on non-essential issues. The question was asked ‘What if a Content Committee opposes certain legislation? The response was that the importance of the legislations would need to be discussed with the Content Committee to develop a course of action. Lobbyist Pickral reported: All 140 seats in the Virginia Legislature were up for election this year. Republicans controlled both the Senates and the House of Delegates. The House was solidly

Republican and stayed that way (66 seats to 34 seats). The Senate is Republican by only one vote. Republicans hoped to expand their margin in the Senate to 3, 4 or even 5 seats. Democrats hope to gain 2 seats and take over the Senate. The Republican held the Senate and now have a 21 to 19 majority (essentially still one seat).

This is a ‘Budget’ year (every other year). The Republicans kept control of both houses of the Legislature, so Medicaid Expansion will not occur.

Governor McAuliffe is now essentially a ‘lame duck’ Governor. He will accomplish various small deeds around the periphery, but his ability to move any ‘big concepts is nil.

FC to 21 (Now re-branded as ‘Fostering Futures’) failed in House Appropriations, but came very close. The fiscal note kept rising; by millions of dollars.

Large Budget surplus this year, however it is almost all pre-committed to the ‘Rainy Day’ fund, Highway and other efforts.

Virginia’s federal Congressional Districts will need to be re-drawn. There will be a Networking session this evening with several legislators in attendance. BE THERE!

Personnel – (Chair Roma Morris): Committee Report stands as submitted. The Chair reported on the following: She is learning a lot as the new Chair and deeply appreciates everyone’s patience. HR is looking at guidelines for Sick Leave payout. Exempt and Non-exempt may soon get a lot ‘tighter with a Presidential Executive Order raising

the minimum pay threshold for Exempt from $27,000 annual salary to $50,000. Anyone making less than $50,000 annually would be eligible for Overtime.

The effect of the VaCMS upon KSA’s (Knowledge, Skills and Ability) for Support and Benefit positions needs to be assessed.

Training is being developed for new and for seasoned Directors. New Directors would get 2 or 3 days, then bring them back for another one or two days once they have some experience.

Highlights from the Committee Report: HR Manual Changes: The Selection chapter is currently under review and is being targeted for

the December State Board meeting. 22VAC40-675(degree requirements) is currently under OAG and will go to the board after review, perhaps in August. This is a fast track policy to bring current with code. Ch2. 2, FLSA is being reviewed at this time. The Family Services Specialist degree requirement and fiscal impact is being reviewed. Localities will have input on this assessment from September – November. HR will keep us posted. The Recruitment and Selection chapter is currently under review. HR is looking into hosting a Web-ex with the committee for feedback, when work is complete. New Practice being developed by HR. Every time there is a policy change, will do a webinar on changes before going to State Board. The

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target date on this is December 2015. Lori is going to review summary description of Sick Leave as there was some confusion regarding the maximum amount of Sick Leave Payout. Jo Ann Wilson-Harfst, local director will read the revision prior to posting it to SPARK to make sure it is clear and accurate.

Classification and Compensation Issues: A broad OTD study will be forthcoming. In the meantime, Lori will look at some specific issues that our committee has raised, that may be affecting other localities. HR is looking at FLSA status of Exempt and Non Exempt Status. Nancy Flanagan will be developing some tools to provide guidance for this. Would like to get this done before next Comp. Year. Lori will review overtime form presented by Ray Spicer to see if it complies with FLSA and policy. Provide a follow through response to the Personnel Committee.

Kimberly Irvine discussed proposed changes with DOL in the exemption salary level required from $23,660 per year to (potentially) $50,440 in 2016 and the potential impact to social services employees.(Exempt and Non-Exempt)

Eligibility Modernization: Stephanie Larson and Andrea Simmons joined the committee in August. They are working on a project that is looking at the following: 1. Identify how VACMS has impacted the KSA’s. 2. Delineate current and future work. 3. See if the work is in alignment and supportive of local best practices. This will be an ongoing project. Roma will be meeting with Andrea Simmons on 10-20-15 re: Eligibility Modernization. Eligibility Modernization is critical and Andrea Simmons and Greg will be working on this. They plan to have face to face interviews with BPS workers on problems and shape the baseline for workers. They will be looking at tasks that workers need by function. The Assessments /Evaluations will inform Competencies (KSAs), Shape Behavioral Interview Questions, and reclassification or redefinition of positions. They hope to get started on this early November.

Workforce Development and Retention: Andrea Simmons, Workforce Planner is new to the team and will be looking at turnover data, sustainability planning, and succession planning (initial focus on the Director position). She will also be looking at the changing OTD postings for positions (evolving roles as EM continues). In addition, she will be working on Leadership Training that will cover locals with succession planning, EM changes, and leadership/technical skills training. Exit Interviews: should we be looking at why employees stay, as opposed to why the leave? There is also a Gallup poll available that has 12 questions that are asked of current employees at various intervals during their tenure. The PDC is happy with the direction of the leadership training (work is being done on a training program for the Director level and perhaps one level down). It is a good start, but it is recognized that this is something that our Supervisors would greatly benefit by, as well. The committee had guest Joes Costello (A Wilder Fellow) who is looking at benchmarking toolkits for screening applicants. Additionally, he is looking at standardizing interview questions to get the right people in child welfare jobs. He is seeking input on what elements might be helpful. HR offered their assistance with his project, as did the committee members. Ray Spicer and Andrea Simmons discussed Training for New Directors and Higher Level Training for Seasoned Directors. For New Directors training needs to be re-vamped to a shorter period of time to give basic information (Administrative Functions) Later: Training to enhance leadership.

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Recruitment, selection, and evaluation resources: There used to be a table to assist in determining competencies and which ones are important. Lori will look into this and see if this tool is still available. The interview question list is almost ready for posting on the VLSSE website. There should be a disclaimer put with it, to make clear that fact that this is a “use at your own risk” document and the questions are not necessarily endorsed by the committee, but simply listed as a resource tool for localities. The committee had guest Joes Costello (A Wilder Fellow) who is looking at benchmarking toolkits for screening applicants. Additionally, he is looking at standardizing interview questions to get the right people in child welfare jobs. He is seeking input on what elements might be helpful. HR offered their assistance with his project, as did the committee members.

Emergency Position Resources: Paul Oswell is working on this. He would like to Pilot an Emergency Workforce Plan in the Central Region to see if retirees would be interested in coming back to work. The plan is to talk with people after they retire (30 days after retirement) to see if they are interested in coming back to work in a part-time or Emergency Position. Persons interested would be shared with agencies.

Professional Development (PDC) – (Chair Ray Spicer): No Committee Report. Ray highlighted Leadership Training which JR Simpson will talk about the next day. There is a contract being let for Leadership (not Management) Training for Directors. The proposed vendors are VCU ‘Performance Management Group’ and the Community College Workforce Alliance.Several noteworthy areas: Local Directors Learning Experience. Based on an informal survey, there are approximately 5

current directors and 5 assistant directors who have not yet participated in the LDLE. The past 2 planned sessions of the LDLE were cancelled due to low census counts for new Directors and Assistant Directors who had not already participated in the LDLE. VDSS is proposing a new format for the LDLE which we have been advised will be geared to orienting new Directors to VDSS Leadership staff and a high level view of the State system, etc.

Child Welfare Stipend program. The Feds required changes in the training plan to include full-time program only; part-time is not an option under the funding. The PDC has heard that VDSS is investigating the possibility of State assistance for part-time students.

Leadership Development and the ongoing discussions and collaboration to develop a Leadership Academy. The PDC has been meeting with VDSS to develop a Leadership Development program that will focus on offering curriculum that is based on core competencies identified for directors. Leadership training will be complemented through the development of a comprehensive continuum of training within VDSS with the LDSS Directors in mind. The development will occur over several years.

They have rolled out new ‘Worker Safety’ training. In one class, a casual survey was gone to ascertain if and how many local staff carried weapons (anything from a gun, knife, Taser, pepper spray, mace, etc.). A total of five participants answered they routinely carry a weapon while at work.

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Technology – (Co-Chairs Janis Selbo and Liz Henry): Committee Report stands as submitted. The committee met on October 9th, 2015 following the IT Operations Committee meeting. Co- Chair Liz Henry reported on the following: On Oct, 28th, CMS announced that the 90/10 enhanced funding for Medicaid eligibility and

enrollment systems is permanent and the A-87 Cost Allocation Exception has been extended for three years

The SNAP phase of EDSP is required to have a pilot, a development applauded by local users who are most interested in having a system deployment that is successful and enhances case processing

• IEII was pushed to all full support agencies in October. Security: Streaming media block – VDSS is piloting with a few local agencies. Outlook Web Access- 2-factor tokens is being implemented Targeted in November—result of phishing attacks over the summer. Security office training will be 1st quarter of the calendar year. SAMS will begin managing OASIS- SR is coming soon

VDSS Family services is exploring options for a short term project to allow pre-populating forms with information from OASIS to help increase worker productivity and reduce errors

ASAPS replacement efforts are moving in a positive direction! DARS was awarded a grant from the Administration on Community Living (ACL) to develop and demonstrate a federal National Adult Maltreatment Reporting System (NAMRS) compliant, case management system. Their $300K request was fully funded and will allow programming to begin on the APS reporting, investigation and service plan components in PeerPlace.

Adjournment: The Board adjourned the meeting at 4:50 PM on Thursday, November 5th. President Cathy Pemberton reminded folks there was a Legislative Reception where we should express our gratitude for what was accomplished and our hopes for yet more accomplishments.

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